Going gets tougher for Federer

Top-ranked Roger Federer was knocked out of the Rogers Cup with a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 loss to France8217;s Gilles Simon in a second-round match Wednesday night.

Top-ranked Roger Federer was knocked out of the Rogers Cup with a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 loss to France8217;s Gilles Simon in a second-round match Wednesday night.

Federer, who won the tournament in 2004 and 8216;06, was playing his first match since losing the Wimbledon final in five sets to Rafael Nadal. Federer, a finalist here last year, became the first top seeded player to lose in his first match here since Lleyton Hewitt in 2002. 8220;The problem was my game today,8221; Federer said.

It was the biggest surprise of a soggy day at the tournament that saw play disrupted for nearly six hours by thundershowers. Second-seeded Nadal is the obvious favorite now, though he didn8217;t appear stellar in his first match Wednesday, struggling early on before ousting Ottawa-born qualifier Jesse Levine 6-4, 6-2.

In other notable upsets, Croatian Marin Cilic ousted 12th-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-4; Argentina8217;s Jose Acasuso beat 14th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6-3, 3-6, 6-3; and Russian Igor Andreev got past 16th-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Of course, nothing compares with eliminating Federer. 8220;For sure, this is my best victory,8221; Simon said. 8220;I don8217;t think that you win so many times against the No. 1 in the world.8221;

The match started off smoothly for Federer until Simon broke his serve to go up 4-2 in the second set. Federer returned the favor and held serve to 4-4 and then 5-5, but Simon held serve in the 11th game and broke Federer in the 12th to take the set. 8220;As the match went on, I struggled a little bit to put the forehands away,8221; Federer said.

8220;He8217;s a good baseliner. He8217;s deceiving because he8217;s kind of thin and tall but moves really well for his height. He flicks a lot of balls with his backhand as well, so when you come in you can8217;t see where he plays.8221;

Frustrating times

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Not in the last four years has the Swiss star seemed so beatable, and he seems frustrated, too. He buried his head in his hands and bristled after one question in the news conference. 8220;You wouldn8217;t have asked me that if I would have won, right?8221;

Suddenly, Federer8217;s side of the draw is wide open. Fourth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko is the highest ranking player remaining there. He defeated Germany8217;s Tommy Haas 6-3, 7-6 6 on Wednesday. Seventh-seeded James Blake was also a winner, beating Sweden8217;s Jonas Bjorkman 1-6, 6-1, 6-2.

On the other side, there8217;s defending champion Djokovic, as well as fifth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer, eighth-seeded Andy Murray of Britain, and ninth-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 8212; who won their matches Wednesday 8212; and of course, Nadal.

The Spaniard seemed to have the support of the fans at the beginning of his match against Levine. One fan waved a Spanish flag with 8220;Vamos Rafa8221; scrawled across it.8221;

Djokovic in last eight

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On Thursday, Djokovic reached the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Swede Robin Soderling.

For a place in the semi-finals, the Serb will play the winner of the match between Switzerland8217;s Stanislas Wawrinka and Britain8217;s Andy Murray.